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Notes -
I think everyone in the foreign policy establishment (including neocons) knows that war with Iran is unwinable. Nuclear and other military sites are extremely fortified and very well dispersed around the country, the military is relatively well trained and equipped, the population is very large, it’s a middle income rather than poor country, commanders have been battle tested, the IRGC has extensive experience in Syria, Iraq and Yemen. The US military hid in their little bases in Afghanistan and Iraq because they were too scared that more than a couple hundred US casualties a year would kill the occupation outright; invading Iran would mean tens of thousands of US casualties. The US knows it and the Iranians know it, which is in part why they’re so openly doing what they’re doing.
The main risk to the leadership in an extreme escalation scenario is some kind of brief naval conflict and targeted, Libya-style air strikes on the leadership in Tehran that kill enough mullahs and politicians to cause some panic. Boots on the ground isn’t going to happen.
But we were talking about whether or not Trump's supporters will follow him anywhere he goes. Whatever the establishment thinks about the war is irrelevant to whether or not Trump supporters were briefly wondering "oh shit, are we going to another war?", and what their reaction would be if they did.
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